Cousin keeping senior cats in isolation

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The cat trust gave her absolute say over the cats. Her judgment cannot be questioned. She hired a professional cat sitter, who lives across the street, at the rate of $100 a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year. The woman comes in twice a day to feed the cats -- we pay for the cat food -- and cleans the litter box. Anything else is extra.

At first things went fine. I would go over to the house every couple of weeks and remove a few boxes of items. My brother would rake leaves and take care of the backyard. If the outside feral cats saw me they all would scatter except for one; I rarely saw even one of the inside cats. If I did happen to see one of the inside cats it would generally hiss and swipe at me.

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In January, at my cousin's request, we had a meeting with her lawyer. The result of that meeting was a letter that said she had changed the locks and my brother and I were forbidden to come to the property. Her rational was that these were senior cats -- approximately 13 years old -- and therefore they needed their peace and tranquillity. Our coming onto the property was interfering with that.

I thought that this was a bunch of bull and that my cousin was being influenced by the pet sitter.

Another thing my cousin wanted to do was to have a different radio going in each room. I thought that this was bull until I read in your column awhile back that music was good for cats. This led me to question my supposition that the cats need company.

So my question to you is, do senior cats need peace and tranquillity?

Peter D'A.

Bay Area

DEAR PETER: Senior cats -- actually any animal, at any age -- need a certain amount of peace and quiet, but that doesn't mean they need to be sealed off from virtually any contact.

Playing music is all well and good -- it seems some cats like it, others couldn't care less -- but it shouldn't be a substitute for human interaction. The cats will only become less social, which could lead to problems when they become ill and need to see a vet.

Cats are self-reliant, but they do need some contact other than someone coming in twice a day to slop down some food, scoop out the litter boxes and change a radio station. I would hope that your cousin is visiting the cats often and that they are having some interaction.

As you and your brother represent a landlord's interest, you have the right to visit, and to enter the property with advanced notice. Being unable to do that means you may not be able to fulfill your obligation as trustee.

I don't know your cousin's side of things. Perhaps your visits somehow caused discord and discomfort, but on the surface her rationale raises suspicion. At the very least, you would have been able to help determine whether the pet sitter is earning her $36,500 a year.